Final Evening in Hanoi, Vietnam (Saturday, November 19th, 2016)

From the Hanoi Hilton, it is about 2 miles back to our hotel, so we decided to make our way through town on foot to have some time to process all that we had seen. 

Our first stop was the Hanoi Tower, right next door to the Hoa Lo prison.  It has a small shopping center on the first floor that we decided to check out.

Already decked out for Christmas!

Our first stop was the super market, because we love Asian super markets! And they're really fun to visit with Chris and Helen bacause they acually know what to do with some of this stuff.

Chris gave us a quick lesson on rice noodles.  He showed us the different kinds and talked us through how to cook each one.  Thanks Chris!

We probably spent close to an hour in the market, just looking, and even buying a few things, before heading back out into the mall. We all decided it was time for a Vietnamese coffee (because we all have a slight addiction), so we stopped in the food court in the middle of the mall.

After enjoying our coffees and the company of great friends, our next stop was a very small market right next to the Hanoi Tower. Quite a different feel than the Hanoi Tower.

We headed back to the lake, which was closed to all vehicle traffic because it is Saturday, so we were able have have a leisurely stroll. It made it so safe and easy to walk around and enjoy the sights of the area.  They even had these cute little cars for rent for the kids.

Then a leisurely stroll by the lake.

A woman pulling taffy.

Helen being her adorable self!

It's hard to believe how quiet the streets were with no motor bikes.

We stopped at a little place called Wrap and Roll for lunch and made our way to their upstairs dining room.  Again, it was a tight spiral staircase leading to the second floor.  This restaurant had very clean indoor restrooms on the second floor, and a dumb-waiter type of elevator for moving food between the kitchen on the first floor and the patrons on the second floor.  We had a very nice, huge lunch for about $8 per person, before rolling ourselves out the door to continue on our walk.

Our waitress came over and helped us put our sauce together.

After lunch we made our way through several more crowded market places before returning to our hotel.  As we spent time in some of these markets, all we could think of was fire code!  This can't possibly be safe, but it's fun to experience, so we just always made sure we knew where the closest exit was. : )

One of the nice vendors offered me a seat on her kindergarten chair. She was so nice that I couldn't say no.

I took a picture of this parking structure because I knew we would be coming back outside tonight for the night market.  So just remember...parking structure by day.

And check out these electricians working on the power lines.

We headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for our farewell dinner.  It was at a little restaurant near our hotel called 5 Spice.

Our fabulous tour guide, Papa Khanh.

The farewell dinner is such a nice chance to reflect on the trip and make sure we get a chance to say goodbye to everyone before we leave, especially our gracious tour guide who has put up with us for the past three weeks.

Then back to the night market, the social hot spot of Hanoi.

Here is another picture of the parking structure from earlier today. It is now a food court, hopping with cooks and patrons.

Our final stop for the night was our favorite little dessert place just down the street from our hotel.  This young girls works here every night, and is such a joy to be around.  We came here for dessert just so we could see her.  They also make a great flan that is hard to pass up.  Not too sweet, just right!  Here she is dishing some up for us.  

We have made so many great memories, with so many great people on this trip!  I'm sure we will cross paths with several of them again as we plan future trips to far off places.  Farewell Vietnam!